613. Westmoreland, Pottawatomie County (KS066)

For this courthouse, the roughhewn thing seems less like an aesthetic choice and more of the reality of building in the time and area.  It was built in 1884, and they pretty much used whatever they could find to throw this one up.  They added an extension in a similar style, obscured behind the sign, but the color difference in the stone is obvious.  I don’t know when it was added, but it also cost the courthouse some points.  Don’t get me wrong…  It’s perfectly suitable and even looks alright, but the normally attractive roughness doesn’t have the same appeal it normally might.  There was also a sign out front asking to “Save the Courthouse”.  There was no phone connectivity in the area so I had to wait until I got back home to investigate this. To sum up, the county hired consultants to come up with options for county facility preservation and expansion, and the least expensive of all the options was to demolish the courthouse and build new.  I may not be in love with the building, but it doesn’t deserve that.  But I don’t even live there so I have no say in the matter. 

I grabbed the cache on the way into Westmoreland in the town of Wamego.  Still there was little phone connectivity, but just enough for my needs.  Winnfield has pigs, Sidney has boots, Wamego had scotties (not pictured because, well, this isn’t the county seat), all painted and arrayed about town.  Derivative, but that’s not what brought me here.  What did?  Two things.  Less importantly…

…the Wizard of Oz Museum here, covering every version from the original book to the 2005 Muppet’s Wizard of Oz.  Far more importantly, Wamego has a Webcam!  Not only that, but it has the easiest Webcam I’ve dealt with to date.  Not only does it have multiple locations one can view, but it updates every 5-10 seconds.  It was easy enough to get several pictures so here…

…is my official proof of claim, me there against a lamppost, shirt purpure, pants sable, wide hat tenne, umbrella sable extended dexter (for those of you hip to the heraldic lingo).  I doubt I qualify for my own coat of arms yet, but at least I already have a motto (Inveni, Inscripsi, Reposui) and this is now Webcam #4 so I’ve got that going for me, which is nice.  Anyway, I was beginning to lose the light, but with the capabilities of my latest phone being vastly improved to my former one, I decided that if I was already making an audible, it wouldn’t hurt to continue it a little more.  A quick diversion past where I was going to go anyway would save me from having to come back here (I thought, as if I would never be back in the area again).  So, instead of turning onto the highway and continuing back towards Topeka, I passed under I-70 and dipped into the town of…